D'Urso: Battle of the Bay goes beyond the field

Sept. 23, 2013

Updated 11:45 a.m.

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Newport Harbor fans cheer for their team in the "Battle of the Bay" football game against Corona del Mar at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Friday. Corona del Mar won 34-14. CHRISTINE COTTER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Corona del Mar fans cheer for their team in the "Battle of the Bay" football game against Newport Harbor at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Friday. Corona del Mar won 34-14. CHRISTINE COTTER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Corona del Mar players celebrate after a 34-14 victory over Newport Harbor in the "Battle of the Bay" football game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Friday. CHRISTINE COTTER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Newport Harbor fans cheer for their team in the "Battle of the Bay" football game against Corona del Mar at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Friday. Corona del Mar won 34-14.CHRISTINE COTTER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

The man laughed to himself as his wife rolled her eyes, and his kids yelled in disbelief.

“You know they're sold out,” the woman said to her family.

He reached inside his pocket and pulled out some tickets.

“I'm just kidding,” the man replied just outside LeBard Stadium at Orange Coast College. “The tickets are right here.”

They walked through the gates to claim their seats, but some fans looking to get in to watch Newport Harbor try and claim its seventh straight Battle of the Bay victory over Corona del Mar were out of luck. Seven thousand spectators had beaten them to the punch, and they oozed slowly into the venue to await the coming action.

A year they had waited for this game. An extra hour in the stands was no obstacle, even in the growing cold of the darkening night.

Some dyed their hair blue, parents let their children stay up past their bedtimes and young girls who had no interest in football showed up to watch the cheerleaders.

The fans filed into their respective sides of the stadium, segregated, like boys and girls at a middle school dance.

The Sea Kings band was even hyped for the game.

“We have our own concerts,” said Corona del Mar director of music Val Jamora. “But this is by far one of our biggest audiences.”

So the drum line rolls and the oboes groan. That's the signal for the more than 100 armored football players to smash through their respective banners held aloft by cheerleaders stacked on top of one another.

Now the game can begin.

Sitting in the stands among thousands of shrieking high-schoolers is more an exercise in concentration than anything else. They discuss boyfriends, girlfriends, who's popular and who's not, pausing to observe the notable action on the field.

Few of the high-schoolers stay in their seats. Like a game of musical chairs, the kids move during the short stoppages between plays.

That's when they're not shouting words of wisdom to their team:

“Hit him!”

“Get that tackle.”

“Run over him.”

“Score!”

Sometimes, those shouts are fickle.

As the Sea Kings are tackled on a routine run play, one fan the size of a large bag of dog food yells in disgust: “We're terrible at football!”

They would score in the same drive.

Now it's halftime, and the hoards at the hotdog stand are staggering. Fans abandon their quest for lukewarm processed meats when the line doesn't budge after 10 minutes.

But it's the cheerleaders whom most people are paying attention to. They flip, they chant, and the fans keep screaming. And just as it ends, a pack of young girls just more than hip high run over to watch.

“Where are the cheerleaders?” they ask.

“Oh you just missed them,” a mother says.

A cacophony of high-pitched, disappointed grumbling ensues, and the group heads out the gate.

The game is back now, some fans still cling to the hope they will get their nachos or squished cheeseburger before the action really gets rolling. The rest in the stands just scream.

It doesn't take long before Corona del Mar takes control with the help of running back Cole Martin.

The fans on the Corona del Mar side keep screaming – loud, ear drum-destroying screams – and the Newport Harbor supporters sit on their side of the field stunned.

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